and Germany. The plant is a species of chrysanthemum, and enjoys the scientific name of Pyrethrum carneum. It is quite an important article of commerce in Southern Russia, where five-and-thirty tons of the powder are annually manufactured exclusively for Russian use. Half a tea-spoonful of it sprinkled between the sheets of a bed is sufficient to repel the intrusions of the little nocturnal visiters for a night. The English and French officers are said to have made much use of this powder in the Turkish barracks during their recent campaign; and if this be true, there can be little difficulty in obtaining evidence of its virtues, or the reverse. The Pyrethrum carneum grows readily on English soil, and forms a very gay addition to a garden.

A circular on the subject of medical education for females, recently issued in the United States, invites the co-operation of all friends of female education in an effort which is being made in New York for establishing a practical school of medicine. The great want felt at the present time by women who desire to follow the medical profession, is the opportunity of studying by the bedside of the sick; for the hospitals are all closed to them. It is very properly stated, that 'hospital instruction is as indispensable to the student of medicine, as musical instruction to the musician.' To meet this want, a number of ladies are engaged in collecting funds for the establishment of an hospital for women and children, 'to be organised by Dr Elizabeth Blackwell and Dr Maria Zakrzewska.' This hospital, while furnishing an opportunity for the thorough training of medical students, is designed to meet another want not supplied by hospitals generally-namely, an earnest religious influence on the patients.

The government engages to forward the movement by liberal grants towards the support of the proposed institution. The favour in which lady doctors are held may be inferred from the fact that in Boston (U. S.) alone eight of them are in full practice.

One of the most useful inventions that America has ever given to the world, but which at present is not adopted or appreciated as it deserves, is a washingmachine. No doubt the many washingmachines which have been offered to the public from time to time, all of which have proved failures, lead people to look with suspicion on any new invention of the kind of which they hear. We hope that, if any of our readers have an opportunity of witnessing the operation of the American Floating Ball Washingmachine, they will not allow any old prejudices to deter them from testing its efficiency for themselves. It may be briefly described as consisting of a trough containing a lye of soap and soda, on which float two hundred smooth wooden balls. The articles to be washed are attached to a framework called a sash, and this sash, on being worked up and down among the balls by means of a lever, takes the linen with it, when the gentle pressure and friction of the balls speedily remove all the dirt from the linen, without the slightest injury to the most delicate fabric.

It is also reported from America, that a very beautiful material has been procured by the mixture of india-rubber with gas tar. The substance is said to be remarkable for its elasticity, durability, and elegance. It is of jet-black colour, takes the finest polish, and the choicest articles of furniture, ornament, or fancy, may be made of it.

Sir Thomas More to King Henry VIII.

(Original in the British Museum.) yit may lyke yor highnes to call to yo graciouse remembraunce that at such tyme, of that great weighty (care ?) and office ur chancellor with which so far above itis or qualitees able and mete therighnes had of yor incomparable nored and exalted me ye were graciouse un to me as at my to discharge and disbur

den me geving me licence with yor graciouse favor to bestow the residew of my life in myn age now to come, about the provision for my soule in the service of god, and to be yo' gracys bedisman and pray for you, it pleased yor highnes ferther to say unto me, that for the service which I byfore hadd done you, (which it than lyked yo goodnes far above my deserving to commend) that in eny suit that I should after have un to yo" highnes, which either

grant of the copyright of their father's works for a hundred years. The reply of the minister informed them that, in the opinion of the Procureur-General, there was no occasion for any such grant, inasmuch as the right of an author and his heirs for ever to the copyright of his works was never doubted.

Organ-grinding is a nuisance for the abatement of which a good many suggestions have been offered. But the most intelligent course of action of which we have heard is that of the municipal authorities at Breslau, who have subjected all itinerant organ-players to a system of surveillance, which came into operation on the 1st of October, 1856. They are not allowed to exercise their calling before six o'clock in the evening. This we regard as the most defective part of the scheme; it is just when the babies of Breslau will be going to bed, and it will be impossible to get them to sleep. If street organs are of any use at all, it is the amusement of children under the care of nurse-maids in the afternoon, when they are getting tired, and want something to enliven them. The remaining part of the arrangement is unobjectionable enough. An inspector has been appointed, and all organs must be brought to this official once every month, that he may see if they are properly tuned. All policemen possessing a musical ear are carefully sought out, and they have strict orders not to suffer any organ to be played that is not in perfect tune. The 'Breslau Musik Zeitung,' in commenting on this decree of the municipal authorities, says, 'A like system of musical gendarmerie would be a boon to our opera house.' To complete this note, we only want to know what the manager and musical staff of that establishment said on reading this passage from the 'Musik Zeitung.'

Algeria, which for so many years has been little better than a training ground for French soldiers, is at the present moment the scene of an interesting experiment in cotton growing. In a Report by Marshal Vaillant to the Emperor, lately published, it is stated, that in 1853 an annual prize of 20,000 francs was allotted for five years to the best cotton-grower in the colony; and for three years the whole produce was ordered to be purchased by the government at a price fixed beforehand, and advantageous to the producer. This encouragement caused so much attention to be paid to

the cultivation of cotton, that it is produced of a quality equal to the best grown in the United States. The expediency of prolonging these encouragements having been suggested, the state has agreed to purchase the whole of the crops till 1858, inclusive.

We get an amusing glimpse of the state of medical science in the East, from a work recently published, under the title of 'Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia and Affghanistan,' by General Ferrier. The general was introduced to most of the great men of the countries through which he passed, and on one occasion, when the hakim-bashee (physicians) visited him, a very edifying conversation arose between them and the traveller. As in their eyes every European must be a doctor, the conversation never ceased running upon the healing art, of which they naturally enough considered themselves most distinguished professors. They brought with them some of their drugs; and as several of them consisted of chemical preparations from British India, they desired the general to give them some notion of the way in which they should be administered. They had, up to that time, given these medicines in progressive doses, until they ascertained the cases to which they were applicable. This information fell so strangely on the traveller's ear, and the mode of experimentation appeared to him so ludicrous, that he was on the qui vive for an account of the results. His curiosity was speedily gratified by one of them, who pulled from his pocket a bottle containing the cyanide of mercury (a deadly poison), and asked, what sort of a salt that could be. 'It has been of no use to me,' he added; 'for out of one hundred patients to whom I have given it, only one was cured-all the rest died.

Do British readers know what fleas are? We do not mean in the same sense as they know what scorpions and rattlesnakes are; but have they any acquaintance with the operations of their lancets and forceps, and the other instruments with which their surgical repository is stored? If so, we think we can tell them something worth knowing. M. Duchartre, in a recent number of the 'Flore des Serres,' states, that the Persian flea powder, which kills all sorts of injurious insects, is prepared from a well-known plant, formerly much grown in England, and still grown in Belgium

and Germany. The plant is a species of chrysanthemum, and enjoys the scientific name of Pyrethrum carneum. It is quite an important article of commerce in Southern Russia, where five-and-thirty tons of the powder are annually manufactured exclusively for Russian use. Half a tea-spoonful of it sprinkled between the sheets of a bed is sufficient to repel the intrusions of the little nocturnal visiters for a night. The English and French officers are said to have made much use of this powder in the Turkish barracks during their recent campaign; and if this be true, there can be little difficulty in obtaining evidence of its virtues, or the reverse. The Pyrethrum carneum grows readily on English soil, and forms a very gay addition to a garden.

A circular on the subject of medical education for females, recently issued in the United States, invites the co-operation of all friends of female education in an effort which is being made in New York for establishing a practical school of medicine. The great want felt at the present time by women who desire to follow the medical profession, is the opportunity of studying by the bedside of the sick; for the hospitals are all closed to them. It is very properly stated, that 'hospital instruction is as indispensable to the student of medicine, as musical instruction to the musician.' To meet this want, a number of ladies are engaged in collecting funds for the establishment of an hospital for women and children, 'to be organised by Dr Elizabeth Blackwell and Dr Maria Zakrzewska.' This hospital, while furnishing an opportunity for the thorough training of medical students, is designed to meet another want not supplied by hospitals generally-namely, an earnest religious influence on the patients.

The government engages to forward the movement by liberal grants towards the support of the proposed institution. The favour in which lady doctors are held may be inferred from the fact that in Boston (U. S.) alone eight of them are in full practice.

One of the most useful inventions that America has ever given to the world, but which at present is not adopted or appreciated as it deserves, is a washingmachine. No doubt the many washingmachines which have been offered to the public from time to time, all of which have proved failures, lead people to look with suspicion on any new invention of the kind of which they hear. We hope that, if any of our readers have an opportunity of witnessing the operation of the American Floating Ball Washingmachine, they will not allow any old prejudices to deter them from testing its efficiency for themselves. It may be briefly described as consisting of a trough containing a lye of soap and soda, on which float two hundred smooth wooden balls. The articles to be washed are attached to a framework called a sash, and this sash, on being worked up and down among the balls by means of a lever, takes the linen with it, when the gentle pressure and friction of the balls speedily remove all the dirt from the linen, without the slightest injury to the most delicate fabric.

It is also reported from America, that a very beautiful material has been procured by the mixture of india-rubber with gas tar. The substance is said to be remarkable for its elasticity, durability, and elegance. It is of jet-black colour, takes the finest polish, and the choicest articles of furniture, ornament, or fancy, may be made of it.

Sir Thomas More to King Henry VIII.

(Original in the British Museum.) 'yit may lyke yo' highnes to call to yo graciouse remembraunce that at such tyme, as of that great weighty (care ?) and office of your chancellor with which so far above my meritis or qualitees able and mete therfore yo highnes had of yo incomparable goodnes honored and exalted me ye were so good and graciouse un to me as at my pore humble suit to discharge and disbur

den me geving me licence with yo' graciouse favor to bestow the residew of my life in myn age now to come, abowt the provision for my soule in the service of god, and to be yo gracys bedisman and pray for you, it pleased yor highnes ferther to say unto me, that for the service which I byfore hadd done you, (which it than lyked yo goodnes far above my deserving to commend) that in eny suit that I should after have un to yo1 highnes, which either

should concerne myn honor (that word it lyked yor highnes to use un to me) or that should perteyne un to my profit I should fynd yo highnes good and graciouse lord un to me. So is it now graciouse soverayn, that worldely honor ys the thing wherof I have resigned both the possession and the desire in the resignation of yo moost honorable office. And worldely profit I trust experience proveth and dayly more and more shall prove, that I never was very gredy theron. But now ys my most humble suit un to yo' excellent highnes, partely to beseche the same, some what to tendre my pore honestie, but principally that of yor accustomed goodnis no sinistre information move yo noble grace, to have eny more distruste of my trouth and devotion toward you than I have or shall duryng my life geve the cause. For in this mater of the wykked woman of canterbery I have un to yo' trusoy counsaylour Mr Thomas Cromwell by my writing as playnly declared the trouth as I possibly can, which my declaration, of his dutie toward yo' grace, and his goodnes toward me so hath I understand declared un to yo' grace, in eny parte of all which my dealing, whither eny other man may peradventure put eny dowte, or move eny scrupule of suspition, that can I neither tell, nor lyeth in myn hand to lett, but un to my selfe is it not possible eny parte of my said demeanure to seme evil, the very clerenes of myn owne conscience knoweth in all the mater my mynde and entent so good. Wherfore moste graciouse soverayn I neither will nor well it can bycome me, wt yor highnes to reason and argue the mater, but in my moost humble maner prostrate at yo graciouse fete I onely byseche yo maiestie wt yo owne high prudence and your accustumede goodnes consider and way the mater. And than if in yo' so doing yor owne vertuouse mynde shall geve you, that notwithstand ing the manifold excellent goodnes that yo graciouse highnes hath by so many maner ways used un to me, I be a wreche of such a monstrouse ingratitude as could wt eny of theym all, or with eny other person living, digresse fro my bounden dutie of allegeaunce toward yor good grace, than desire I no ferther favor at yor graciouse hand, than the losse of all that ever I may best (value or esteem?) in this world, goods, lands, and libertie, and finally my life wt all, wherof the keping of eny parte un to my selfe, could never do me penyworth of pleasure, but onely shold then my recomforte be, that after my short life and yo long (which wt continuall prosperite to goddys pleasure our lord for his mercy send you) I shold onys mete wt yor grace agayn in hevyn, and there be mery with you. Where among myn other plea

suris this shold yet be one, that yo2 grace shold surely se there than, that (how so ever you take me) I am yo' trew bedeman now and ever have bene, and will be till I dye, how so ever yo' pleasure be to do by me. How be it if in the considering of my cause, yo high wysdome and graciouse goodnis perceve (as I veryly trust in god you shall) that I none otherwise have demeaned my selfe, than well may stand wt my bounden dutie of faithfullnes toward yo2 roiall maiestie, than in my moste humble wise I bysech yo moste noble grace, that the knowledge of yo' trew graciouse persuasion in that by halfe, may releve the (burden?) of my present hevynesse, conceived of the drede and fere (by that I here such a grevouse bill put by yor lerned counseile in to yo high court of parleament agaynst me) lest yo' grace myght by some sinistre information be moved eny thyng to thinke the contrary. Which if yo highnes do not (as I trust in god and yor great goodnes the mater by yor awne high prudence examined and considered you will not) then in my moost humble man' I besech yor highnes ferther (albe it that in respecte of my formar requeste this other thing ys very sleight) yit sith yo' highnes hath here byfore of yor more habundunt goodnes heped and accumulated uppon me (though I was therto very far unwurthy) fro tyme to tyme both wurshuppe and great hono to, and sith I now have lefte of all such things, and no thing seke or desire but the life to come, and in the meane while pray for yo' grace, it may lyke yo' highnes of yor accustumed benignite somewhat to tendre my pore honestie and never suffre by the meane of such a bill put forth agaynst me eny man to take occasion here after agaynst the treuth to slawndre me. Which thyng shold yit by the perill of theire owne soulys do theym selfe more hurt than me which shall I trust settle myn harte with yor graciouse favor to depend uppon the comforte of the trouth and hope of hevyn, and not uppon the fallible opinion or sour spoken words, of light and sour changeable peple. And thus moste dredde and moste dere soverayn lord, I beseche the blessed trinite preserve yo' moost noble grace both in body and soule, and all that are yo well willers, and amend all the contrary, among whome if ever I be or ever have been one, than pray I god that he may with myn open shame and destruction declare it. At my pore howse in Chelchith the fifeth day of march by the knowen rude hand of-yor moste humble and moste hevy faithfull subguett and bedeman

'THO. MORE KT.' Sir Thomas More, born 1480; Chancellor 1530; beheaded 1535.